Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1887-03-04
All About 1t.


respondent by Ezra Meeker, of Puyal-
lup valley. He has very definitely an
swered some very important questions
about our Territory at large.
AS this person is evidently in great
earnest, and his letter cannot be an
swered without considerable labor, as
l am receiving similar letters at the
rate of about fifty month, l conclud-
ed to write answers to his queries for
others as we'll as for him.
To save space l will write the an
swers only.
1st. About two-thirds of our winter
days are either cloudy or rainy.
I'd. Very seldom that the thermom-
eter shows as low as 25 degrees or low
er; the average is over 40 degrees.
Sd. One-third of the days in the
winter the sun will shine for part or
whole of the day.
4th. Fog is not very prevalent in
winter; when experienced it will gen.
orally rise by 10 A.
9Th. Air is chilly and penetrating-
to persons in good health, however, not
disagreeable.
9th. This is muddy country; the
valley land, being sandy loan, is not
so very bad; in some clayey sections
of the country, sticky, and, as the En-
glish would say. nasty" in other
sections, lying high, sandy and grav-
ely, there is no mud.
7th. l do not consider this climate
undesirable for those inclined to lung
trouble or rheumatism. Catarrh is
prevalent but not severe.
Sth. There is no malaria or that
class of fevers among the farmers liv-
ing in the valleys.
9th. Hail storms very seldom injure
"fruit or other crops" in fact such
storms are not frequent or severe.
10th. average price of hay from
dealers to farmers at Seattle or Ia
coma," for series of years, about $12
per ton. There is very steady relia-
BILE market for hay.
11th. There is a steady reliable mar
ket for live stock at paying prices.
18th. 1t costs 81 per ton to make
hay, including baling-in some cases
it is done for less.
18th. Vegetable raising by farmers
for city markets has not been profita-
BILE, except potatoes. The average cost
of raising vegetables, potatoes, beets,
carrots, cabbage, etc, is, in my opin-
ion, less than 81 per ton On the farm,
harvested. This is emphatically a
great vegetable-producing country, 80
to 40 tons of carrots, 90 to 80 tons of
beets, 200 to 400 bushels of potatoes,
and 80 tons of cabbage per acre attest
the fact, and that without any manure.
We can raise more vegetables than we
can sell.
14th. We can raise with Profit ap-
pies, pears, plums, cherries, prunes,
apricots and all the small fruits-I be-
lieve with us much profit as in the
most favored spot in California.
18th. Farming lands can be bought
at prices that are likely to advance
Valley improved land is worth from
$45 to $S5 per acre, according to loca-
ton, nature of improvements and
crops raised. This is independent of
the hop plantations, which are special
and higher.
18th. 1t will cost from 1925 to $3.50
per acre to bring hop plantation
into bearing"
18th. A hop plantation will bear a
two-third crop the first year, full crop
the second year, and will take four
pickers to the acre.
18th. The cost of producing hops
ready for shipment is about nine
cents per pound.
10Th. do not regard the climate
as desirable for out-of-door work all
the year as the best part of California." J"
Our rainfall is no heavier than that of
California, but extends over greater
number of days. Up to this writing,
January 9th, ice has not formed as
thick as an ordinary school state.
AS an addendum to this brief state
ment of few of the salient features of
Western Washington, we reproduce
the following article on puget
Sound" from Kane's Illustrated Vest:
That portion of Washington Terri
tory west of the Cascade mountains
embraces within it's limits the world
famous Puget Sound, q vast sea, hav-
ing shore line 1900 in extent. The
shores of Puget Sound ares covered
with dense growth of timber, princi-
pally fir, forming the most extensive
and valuable forests in the world
Vast deposits of bituminous coal, large
beds of iron and great lodges of lime.
stone have been discovered within easy
reach of navigable water, and success
fully worked. The agricultural re.
sources of Puget Sound are confined
to reclaimed tide lands, vine maple
swamps and river bottom or prairie
The climate of Puget Sound is mild
and equable. The mercury seldom
falls as low as zero, snow falls frequent
ly during the winter, but seldom lays
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